


Poetry Week Missives

by selfreliantscientist



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Epistolary Format, M/M, Poetry Week, The Moon - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-16
Updated: 2014-05-16
Packaged: 2018-01-25 07:37:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1639283
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/selfreliantscientist/pseuds/selfreliantscientist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cecil writes a letter to Carlos during Poetry Week. Carlos replies.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. From Cecil to Carlos

**Author's Note:**

> I don't normally write poetry, but I just listened to Poetry Week again and this idea popped into my head.

Dear Carlos,

There are so many questions I wish to ask.  
I will limit myself to one.  
Is that acceptable?

My question is not the one above.

Tell me, Carlos, what is the moon?

It shines, and sometimes, I think it smiles.  
Or perhaps it frowns.

I imagine it, watching me.  
I hope it likes what it sees.

I hope many things.  
Comparatively few are about the moon.

I would ask, dear Carlos, if you like what you see,  
if you watch me.  
But I have already stated my one question.  
I will not be greedy.

One thing I hope is that you agree  
that the moon is beautiful.  
It seems to me  
an incontrovertible fact.  
The moon’s beauty is clear,  
as is yours.

I must watch both from afar.  
I do not like watching from afar,  
but I am used to it.  
Please do not mistake my curiosity  
for lack of contentment.  
It is merely curiosity.  
And hope.

Tell me, Carlos, what is the moon?

Sincerely,

Cecil


	2. From Carlos to Cecil

Cecil,

I understand  
that this week  
is Poetry Week

And therefore  
I must write my response  
in verse.

I am not a poet.  
I am  
a scientist.

I read  
very little  
poetry.

I  
have written  
none.

But,  
in high school,  
they taught us

that poems  
are defined  
by line breaks.

That “verse”  
literally  
means “turn.”

I hope that by breaking up  
my sentences into stanzas  
I will fulfill municipal requirements for poetry.

The moon, Cecil,  
is Earth’s only  
natural satellite.

Scientists (other than myself) theorize  
that the moon was once  
a part of the Earth,

until an asteroid collision  
knocked it loose  
and into our sky.

I am not a geologist,  
nor am I   
an astrophysicist.

I am a scientist.  
I study science,  
not the Earth, or celestial bodies.

The shapes taken by the moon correspond  
to its day/night cycle, which is much longer  
than the same cycle on Earth.

When the moon seems to disappear,  
that is merely because it is nighttime  
on the part we can see.

The moon is made of rock.  
The rocks are made of minerals.  
There is much silicon, and iron.

We know some of this  
from observation, by which we can determine  
mass and volume, and therefore density.

We know some of this  
from expeditions to the moon,  
from which brave men brought samples home.

There is much more that we do not know.  
I should like to visit the moon one day,  
but I don’t think that is in my future.

I am content to wait here  
and watch it with others,  
such as you.

I hope  
this answers  
your question.

Sincerely,

Carlos


End file.
